President Donald Trump's upcoming rallies were the first thing U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith mentioned in her opening statement at a Tuesday debate in Jackson.

They were also the focus of her closing remarks — even telling viewers the URL where they could "get those tickets."

It was fitting for a candidate whose central campaign theme is a near-perfect alignment with Trump's agenda, something she brings up often on the campaign trail. Even the sides of her campaign bus — dubbed the "MAGA Wagon" — display a large photograph of Hyde-Smith sitting beside the president.

Last week's debate was one of the rare opportunities during this campaign season to watch an unvarnished Hyde-Smith, not speaking through a spokesperson or statement or surrogate. The 59-year-old Republican previously turned down requests to debate, saying she was too busy in Washington, but eventually agreed after she and Democrat Mike Espy moved on following the general election.

But Tuesday's contest rarely offered a more candid view. Hyde-Smith often read from notes spread out on the podium, or pivoted away from policy questions to deliver attack lines on her opponent. She departed without taking questions from the media, leaving her fellow Sen. Roger Wicker to speak on her behalf.

But with her constant reminders of Trump's support — the Republican won Mississippi by 18 percentage points in 2016 — it may not matter.

Trump back to stump

Hyde-Smith and Espy moved to the Tuesday runoff after both received about 41 percent of the vote Nov. 6, short of the 50 percent needed to win. Hyde-Smith, a cattle farmer from Brookhaven, was appointed by Gov. Phil Bryant in the spring to temporarily take over for the ailing longtime Sen. Thad Cochran. The winner Tuesday will serve out the final two years of Cochran's term. She previously served in the state Senate and as state agriculture commissioner.

Trump is scheduled to hold Monday rallies in Tupelo and Biloxi to bolster support for Hyde-Smith, after her recent controversial statements, captured on video, which many viewed as having racial undertones. National Republican groups have also sent money and resources to the state in the past two weeks to shore up support for its candidate.

"Our country is better off right now than it was two years ago," Hyde-Smith said at a Nov. 1 Jackson gathering of business and political leaders. "President Trump and the Republican Party made promises in 2016, and we have kept those promises." She added she was the only candidate "to support the president 100 percent of the time," and said she would "be with him every day, toe-to-toe."

The Hyde-Smith message: I'm a conservative, I'm with Trump, and Espy is too liberal for a state that voted overwhelmingly for the president and hasn't elected a Democratic senator since 1982. (Hyde-Smith was a Democrat until 2010, when she switched parties. And Espy has, in fact, tried to cast himself as a moderate candidate, often downplaying party labels.)

"Lower taxes, less government, more freedom," reads the tagline in one Hyde-Smith ad, which also mentions her backing of Trump's priorities of "securing the border" and "stronger military." At a recent campaign news conference with Bryant, she also talked up her pro-life stance: "One of the strongest beliefs I have is right to life," she said, before a group called the National Right To Life Committee announced its endorsement of her.

Hyde-Smith also contrasts sharply with her opponent on health care. She is in favor of repealing the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, in line with Trump. But more recently — as health care became a central issue in the race — she signed on to co-sponsor a bill along with a number of other Republicans to protect coverage for those with pre-existing conditions.

In her short time in the Senate, Hyde-Smith has voted to confirm several Trump appointees, such as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and CIA Director Gina Haspel.

But she garnered the most attention for her vote to confirm now-U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who had faced allegations of sexual assault. She sat behind Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, when Collins made her now-famous speech supporting Kavanaugh. And Hyde-Smith made her own speech to the Senate about her support for him, her first public address to the body.

“Today I am compelled by duty to our country and the people of Mississippi to speak in strong and unyielding support for Judge Brett Kavanaugh,” she said, calling it a “purely political effort” by Democrats to keep him off the court. She touched only briefly on the issue of sexual assault, saying it was an issue "that must never be taken lightly. That is why unproven accusations are so very unjust."

'Hanging' remarks

More recently, Hyde-Smith has faced steady criticism from the Espy campaign and others around the country after two videos were released online by a Louisiana blogger. One video captured Hyde-Smith saying of a supporter at a Nov. 2 event: "If he invited me to a public hanging, I'd be on the front row."

"If he invited me to a public hanging, I'd be on the front row"- Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith says in Tupelo, MS after Colin Hutchinson, cattle rancher, praises her.

In the other video, she talks about voter suppression of "liberal people" at some college campuses; her campaign quickly said she was "obviously joking," and had been answering a question about improving voting access at universities. Pictures from 2014 also turned up showing Hyde-Smith wearing a Confederate soldier's hat and holding a rifle. "Mississippi history at it's best!" she wrote on Facebook, speaking of her visit to the Jefferson Davis Home and Presidential Library.

National groups criticized the comments, including the NAACP and the American Civil Liberties Union, saying they were inappropriate in a state with a long history of racial violence and voter suppression of African-Americans. But she has also received a backlash for her campaign's response to the comments, which have been minimal. The Hyde-Smith campaign called the public hanging comment an "exaggerated expression of regard."

Hyde-Smith had refused to answer questions about the comments, both in Jackson and on Capitol Hill. At the endorsement event from the National Right to Life Committee, she hovered in the background and would not answer reporter questions about the "public hanging" comment. Bryant quickly stepped forward to offer a freewheeling defense of her, saying "all of us in public life have said things on occasion that we could have phrased better."

CLOSE

At a Monday news conference about an endorsement by the National Right to Life Committee, Gov. Phil Bryant and Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith were asked about Hyde-Smith's comments about attending a hanging, captured in a video posted online Sunday.
Luke Ramseth

At Monday's debate, she was again asked about the "hanging" comments. "For anyone who was offended by my comments, I certainly apologize," Hyde-Smith replied. "There was no ill-will, no intent whatsoever in my statements." She also said they had been "twisted" and "turned into a political weapon."

Some have come to her defense, arguing the comment should only be viewed as an offhand compliment, and not within Mississippi's larger racial context. It did not catch the attention of journalists at the rally, pointed out one man, Leath Johnson, who said on Facebook he was in attendance at the Tupelo event. "Have you ever told a friend 'I have your back' or 'I will go to war for you' or 'with you for I know you would do the same for me?'" Johnson wrote. “This was intent of the comment."

But others say it was a deal-breaker. Tupelo resident Rachel Beech Morgan in an interview said she considers herself an independent, and was weighing whether to vote for Hyde-Smith. She liked that Hyde-Smith was the first woman to serve Mississippi in the U.S. Senate. She liked her background as a hard-working cattle farmer.

That changed when she saw the video. The context, she said, shouldn't matter.

Who is Cindy Hyde-Smith?

Republican Hyde-Smith was serving her second term as state agriculture commissioner — also the first woman to hold that position — before her appointment to the U.S. Senate. Hyde-Smith served in the Mississippi Senate from 2000-2012. She switched parties from Democratic to Republican in 2010, just before her first run for agriculture commissioner.

Hyde-Smith has a strong base among rural conservatives and farmers and helped on Trump's transition team and with his agriculture policy before her appointment to the Senate

Here are some things to know about Hyde-Smith:

Age: 59

Home: Brookhaven

Occupation: cattle farmer, stockyard/auction owner; former state agriculture commissioner and former state senator.

Self reflection: "I've been a conservative all my life ... The reason I am running is jobs and the economy and less regulations ... I want to create that environment and foster that environment where we can have a great workforce and great opportunities for employment and a good place to raise your family."

What others say: "(Hyde-Smith) has helped me put America First! She's strong on the Wall, is helping me create Jobs, loves our Vets and fights for our conservative judges. Cindy has voted for our Agenda in the Senate 100% of the time and has my complete and total Endorsement. We need Cindy to win in Mississippi!" — President Donald J. Trump, endorsing Hyde-Smith in August via Twitter

Platform

Budget/spending: Supports balanced budget amendment, spending cuts. "Mississippi families and small businesses must balance their budgets each month. It’s time for Washington to be held to the same standard."

Immigration: Proponent of stronger border patrol and border wall. "I'm pretty firm, firm, firm on the wall." On immigrant workers, "We want them legal. If they are not legal now, get legal."

Trump tax cuts: Supports, and is only member of Senate to have voted with Trump's agenda "100 percent" to date.

Regulatory reform: Supports reforms, praises Trump's deregulation, including repeal of EPA's Waters of the U.S. act regulations, which she says hurts farmers and ranchers.

Gun rights: Strongly supports. Endorsed by NRA and has cosponsored legislation for "reciprocity" with concealed carry permits — where holder of permit in one state can carry in others.

Abortion: Believes "all children, including the unborn, are guaranteed the right to life by our creator." Opposes taxpayer funding of abortions and vows to vote to confirm "pro-life judges who will interpret the law as written."